$45M state grant brings mental health outreach to schoolhouses

Any day of the week at Edison High School in Minneapolis, lead therapist Jennifer Ramji could encounter a student who lost a loved one, recently became homeless or is simply having a bad day.

If Ramji and her staff can provide those students with convenient, in-school mental health care, they are less likely to miss class and have disciplinary problems and are more likely to graduate.

"We always have someone available to meet them in the moment," Ramji said.

She works at the Edison Collaborative, a staff of therapists and interns that provides mental health services to Edison's 700 students. Last year they had 200 walk-ins and served 150 students.

School leaders started the collaborative eight years ago because too many educators found themselves "playing out of position," Ramji said. Teachers were trying to help students deal with complex social and emotional problems.

On Thursday, top state health, education and human services leaders visited Edison to celebrate $45 million in new state funding to create more programs like the collaborative. The five-year grant will fund 36 mental health organizations' work in about 800 schools across 257 districts to reach about 35,000 students statewide by 2018.

In the east metro, districts from Farmington to Stillwater to Roseville will receive new services.

"We know that doesn't solve the mental health needs. It is a huge step forward," said Lucinda Jesson, the state's human services commissioner, during a round-table discussion with school leaders, health advocates and students.

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The grant doubles the state resources for school-linked mental health care. Next fiscal year the state will spend $9.6 million on school mental health services.

Brenda Cassellius, education commissioner, said too often the focus is solely on academic achievement rather than the well-being of students who can come from challenging circumstances.

"We forget to think about the social and emotional health of our children and our communities," Cassellius said.

Ed Ehlinger, the state's health commissioner, recalled helping establish a health clinic at Edison in the 1980s and said the mental health collaborative has similar benefits -- namely proximity to students.

"That's where the action is," Ehlinger said of locating clinics inside school buildings.

And proximity appears to be paying off. Bernadeia Johnson, Minneapolis' schools superintendent, said providing mental health services in school has increased attendance and decreased suspensions.

"It means students are getting the support they need to be successful," she said.